1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video server apparatus provided in a broadcast station.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a video server is provided in a broadcast station or an image distribution system to store image data which has been edited or recorded (disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appin. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-186411 and Jpn. Pat. Appin. KOKAI Publication No. 2008-59096, for example). A common computer that is configured on the basis of established computer architecture is developed with an enlarged memory capacity and a high-speed central processing unit (CPU) to provide the video server function. Therefore, the expendability of the video server is limited within the existing architecture. For example, the general video server employs an internal bus having unique specifications which are established based upon a 128-bit parallel bus. Thus, speeding up the signal transmission is limited in consequence of various noises. When the video server utilizes a shared bus, tolerance to electric load is also limited. Thus, the expendability of the system is further limited. In addition, it is required to design an own protocol for each of boards including a memory board to be inserted to a slot. A period of time for designing the protocol may be prolonged.
In some cases, the conventional video server may employ an internal control system which is unique to a vender of the video server, or the conventional video server may employ a low-speed transmission system such as a serial transmission system. If the data transmission speed in the system is slow, a processing performance is reduced and the video server can not be further expanded. If the video server, which employs the unique system as the internal control system, can be connected to the Internet Protocol (IP) network, protocol exchange is required and the response speed is slowed down.
As the existing video server has the limited expendability and period of time for the protocol design is prolonged, addressing such problems is desired. In addition, a medium which is used for delivering video materials is shifted from films and tapes to data files. Techniques to comply with such shifting are also desired.